In a major boost for the Bangladesh National Cricket Team, BCB President Faruque Ahmed has hinted at the participation of the veterans Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Faruque Ahmed said that Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan are available for selection for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which is set to be played in a hybrid model in February and March 2024.
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Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan are certified greats of Bangladesh cricket
The star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and the veteran batsman Tamim Iqbal are two of the greatest cricketers produced by Bangladesh.
Shakib has featured in 71 Tests, 247 ODIs, and 129 T20Is for his country and has scored 4609, 7570 and 2551 runs respectively. With the ball, his contributions have been immense as he has picked 246, 317, and 149 wickets in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is.
Speaking of Tamim Iqbal, he has played 70 Tests, 243 ODIs, and 78 T20Is, scoring 5134, 8357 and 1758 runs respectively. However, he has not donned the Bangladesh jersey for a very long time with his last international appearance coming in September 2023.
He also served as a commentator in some of the recent matches of Bangladesh but has now started his preparations for the upcoming BPL with the ongoing NCL T20.
Meanwhile, Shakib has found himself in the middle of a lot of controversies. The political issues have led to him not being able to travel to Bangladesh and he was recently suspended from bowling in international cricket due to an illegal action.
He last featured in a Test match against India in October 2024. Since then, he has not played for his national team but has been playing regularly in franchise cricket.
If any player does not retire then he is definitely available for selection – Faruque Ahmed
Meanwhile, Faruque Ahmed said that Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan are still available to play for Bangladesh in the ICC Champions Trophy, but added that he is unaware of Shakib Al Hasan’s participation in BPL.
“If any player does not retire then he is definitely available for selection (for the Champions Trophy),” Faruque told reporters following board meeting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“Shakib issue is a totally different issue and there is nothing new. In the last West Indies tour he was not in a mental state to play and now Shakib will say whether he will play BPL or what is his state and I cannot say anything because I don’t have any update regarding him,” he said.
As far as Tamim is concerned look what the chief selector said – Faruque Ahmed
The BCB President added that Tamim Iqbal has not yet retired and if the team management feels they need him the Gazi Ashraf Hossain-led selection committee will have conversations with him.
“As far as Tamim is concerned look what the chief selector said. There is no policy and if a player is yet to retire and the selectors think he is required for the team in that case the selection committee will have to talk with that particular player,” he said.
At last, Faruque stated that they will take a final call on the future of Najmul Hossain Shanto as the skipper after December. Notably, Shanto had expressed his desire to step down from the role but changed his mind after conversations with the BCB President.
“We have just completed a series and there is nothing ahead of Champions Trophy as the boys will play BPL so we have time in our hand. We have not discussed anything in this regard. We will discuss when the time comes. We will decide after December 14 (regarding Shanto’s captaincy),” he added.
